The bill targets one of the central vehicles for unlimited outside spending, as progressives warn that billionaire money—and broader threats of voter intimidation—are putting democratic elections under strain.

The financialization of the American electoral process is well documented. Now two key progressive legislators are proposing a new law to do something about it.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Democratic Rep. Summer Lee (PA-12) introduced the Abolish Super PACs Act on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. It’s a measure they saywill eliminate one the primary ways billionaires funnel cash into elections: super PACs. The bill would limit donations to super PACs to $5,000 for both individuals and corporations.

“Today, the average American gets one vote. Billionaires, however, through their super PACs, can spend unlimited amounts of money to elect the candidates of their choice and to defeat candidates who stand up for working families or a just foreign policy,” Sanders said.

The measure is necessary, Lee said, to save a democratic process that is under strain from unlimited sums of money poured into elections by billionaires and corporations.

“Our bill would ensure that millionaires, billionaires, corporations, corporate interests, special interests would no longer be able to get around the guardrails, the limitations that everyday individuals like you and I have,” Lee said.

A super PAC, or political action committee, is an entity that can currently raise unlimited donations from individuals, corporations, and unions. It can spend that money to independently support or oppose candidates, including through advertising and other election-related expenditures.

Candidates cannot formally coordinate with a super PAC. But that limitation is often skirted, leaving the wealthiest Americans with disproportionate influence over electoral outcomes.

Both Sanders and Lee pointed to the fallout from the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision in 2010 as a key motivator to overhaul current election laws sooner rather than later. Since the controversial ruling opened the door for unlimited outside spending on elections, corporations and billionaires have turned to super PACs to unleash a barrage of spending.

“I don’t want people to think this is just another issue. It is a more important issue,” Sanders said at the press conference announcing the bill.

“We are the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare. Why is that? You think it may have something to do with the power of the pharmaceutical industry and insurance companies who spend millions of dollars making sure we don’t move to a Medicare for All system?”

“This is an issue that touches on every single issue facing working people in this country,” said Sanders.

Billionaire Elon Musk used his America PAC to pour roughly $288 million into Trump’s and other Republlicans 2024 presidential campaign.

The Abolish Super PACs Act comes as a smaller and wealthier group of donors fund a growing proportion of campaign spending. The New York Times reported that just 300 billionaires and their families accounted for 19% of all federal campaign spending in the US in 2024, much of it funneled through Super PACs. Before the Citizens United ruling, contributions from billionaires made up only 0.3%.

“It corrupts, it discourages, I call it functionally disenfranchising the political process from every aspect, from every angle,” Lee said.

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